Kiosk-based electronic bill payments got another boost this week when processor Fiserv Inc.'s CheckFreePay walk-in bill-pay unit announced a deal with Ready Credit Corp. that will make bill-pay services available to consumers using cash at Ready Credit's 55 ReadyStation self-service kiosks by early spring. The kiosks, which already allow consumers …

TIO Networks Corp. signaled a new strategy last week when the kiosk network struck a deal with IPP of America Inc. to process bill payments at IPP walk-in locations (Digital Transactions News, Nov. 29). For the first time, TIO will be handling transactions on its network without the need to …

The payment industry's Wall Street parade continued Monday when non-bank ATM network owner Cardtronics Inc. announced plans for an initial public offering of common stock. The Houston-based operator of 31,000 machines hopes to raise potentially $300 million, before underwriting fees and payments to current owners, to pay down debt and …

In a development that ViVOtech Inc. is touting as a major vote of confidence in contactless payment and mobile transactions via near-field communication (NFC) technology, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based maker of contactless readers and mobile wallet software has closed a $22.5 million funding round. ViVOtech had announced the so-called Series …

Alternative payments have penetrated the market for airline tickets with Northwest Airlines Inc.'s decision to accept PayPal on its Web site. The move by the major air carrier, which executes about 1,400 daily departures around the world, makes it the first airline to accept PayPal and gives the San Jose, …

The agreement by Cardtronics Inc., the nation's largest ATM operator, to buy 7-Eleven Inc.'s entire U.S. fleet of 5,500 ATMs and Vcom multi-function kiosks hands the convenience-store chain a hefty return on its ATM investment while expandng Houston-based Cardtronics' network of machines by about 20%. The approximately $135 million cash …

The concept of an ATM that also serves as a kiosk for bill payment and other financial services may be getting closer to reality. TIO Networks Inc., a Burnaby, B.C.-based operator of bill-payment kiosks that serve primarily the underbanked, will begin deploying hybrid ATM-kiosk machines by the start of 2007, …

Convinced that banks are ready to upgrade ATM capability to sell more products and services, San Jose, Calif.-based Infonox Inc. says it is piloting marketing-savvy machines with unnamed clients and plans to have at least one commercial deployment in progress within six months. “There's a dramatic shift in the banking …

Peppercoin Inc., which started out as a processor of so-called micropayments for online content but soon began to embrace small-value point-of-sale transactions, now sees opportunity in both contactless technology and vending markets, its top executive says. “We've set bigger sights for ourselves,” says Mark Friedman, chief executive of the Waltham, …

In a move that quintuples the number of ATMs in its network, Citigroup Inc. today announced it will brand machines in 5,500 7-Eleven Inc. convenience stores in 31 states. The ATMs, which will bear the Citibank brand, will allow customers to withdraw cash without incurring surcharges, a feature the bank …